Ohio man arrested, charged with trying to join ISIS

A 20-year-old was arrested in Ohio boarding a plane with plans to travel to Libya to join the Islamic State. Pictured are Iraqi forces displaying an ISIS flag they seized during an operation to retake Fallujah, Iraq, from the militants in June 2016. File photo by Karrar Hazem/UPI | License Photo

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 7 (UPI) — A man was arrested Monday boarding a plane in Ohio on his way to Libya, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation says he planned to join the Islamic State.

Aaron Daniels was arrested Monday morning at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus as he boarded a flight to Houston, the first of three stops planned to get him to Libya where he planned to join the militant Islamic group. Daniels appeared in federal court Monday afternoon, charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization and is being held without bond.

“They were ready to act as soon as he gets on the plane,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which had been tracking Daniels for well over a year as he explored a path to becoming a terrorist.

Federal authorities say Daniels started expressing an interest online in jihad and joining the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh, last September, joining social media websites with false names, sending messages about his ambitions for jihad and asking for money and other help to do so.

Since early February, he had been speaking to FBI agents he thought were involved with the Islamic State, laying out his plans to travel from Columbus to Houston, then flying from Houston to Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. From the islands, Daniels then planned to fly to Libya with the intent of joining jihadist activities, authorities say.

If convicted, Daniels faces up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

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